Empat hari. Lex bermeditasi selama empat hari tanpa henti, berusaha menenangkan pikirannya. Masih ada beberapa masalah di sana-sini yang memerlukan perhatiannya, tapi karena bukan keadaan darurat, dia mengabaikannya.
Sayangnya, meski situasinya sangat kritis, tidak ada yang lebih penting daripada menguasai kondisi mentalnya sendiri. Lex bahkan tidak bisa membayangkan konsekuensi apa yang akan terjadi jika ia mengembangkan Iblis Hati saat mempelajari teknik Masterless.
Faktanya saja, butuh empat hari penuh baginya untuk mendapatkan kejernihan mental dan kendali diri kembali, bukti betapa besar stres yang dialaminya. Mungkin dia terlalu lama menghadapi stres dan situasi berbahaya, dan ini tanda baginya untuk santai sejenak. Sayangnya, apakah dia bisa santai atau tidak bukan hal yang bisa dikontrolnya, setidaknya untuk saat ini.
Secara pribadi, Lex punya interpretasi lain soal kenapa kondisi mentalnya jadi begitu rentan. Karena dia main terlalu aman, terlalu sedikit mengambil risiko, dan menanggung semuanya sendiri. Dia harus lebih serius melatih pekerja-pekerjanya agar bisa berbagi beban.
Saat mengakhiri meditasi, Lex menciptakan proyeksi Pengelola Inn lain dan memeriksa kemajuan Z. Menstabilkan ruang tanpa mengikatnya ke sesuatu, bukan hal mudah. Ia tidak terhubung ke batas realm Midnight utama, dan juga tidak memiliki keamanan dan kestabilan harta atau peralatan.
Ruang itu harus berdiri sendiri, mendukung fungsi hukum-hukum yang mengatur tanah, menahan ketidakstabilan, menghindari runtuh, dan bisa menyatu mulus dengan realm lain. Itu tidak terlalu banyak diminta, kan?
Sebenarnya, itu masih bisa dicapai, kalau mau, sesuai rencana asli Lex untuk Z dan yang lain, meski butuh waktu lama. Namun, setelah menerima Jurnal Taro, Lex punya ide lain. Alih-alih membuat ruang ini bisa menyatu dengan realm manapun yang menjadi tujuan, dia memutuskan agar target kestabilannya adalah realm Mimpi secara spesifik.
Karena itu, dia mengubah rencana yang diberikan ke Z, dan memberitahu instruksi spesifik ke Charles juga. Entah kenapa, Charles sangat lambat menghasilkan informasi yang bisa dipakai tentang realm Mimpi. Dia tapi, berhasil memberikan cukup banyak informasi soal cara menstabilkan ruang terkoyak dan menjahitnya sementara ke realm.
Tujuan jahitan dalam informasi itu adalah agar akhirnya ruang terkoyak itu sempurna menyatu dengan realm. Lex, tapi, tidak butuh melakukan itu.
"Apakah kita siap melaksanakan bagian selanjutnya dari rencana ruang terkoyak?" tanya Lex ke Mary sambil mengamati kemajuan.
Mary, yang kali ini muncul dengan pakaian Midnight Inn biasa, menatapnya dengan ekspresi datar.
"Apakah pemancar api cukup untuk menyalakan korek api? Tentu semuanya akan siap kalau kau curahkan begitu banyak uang," kata dia. "Aku bahkan tidak tahu kenapa kau khawatir soal ini."
Lex menatapnya dengan senyum tipis. Dia tahu kenapa dia begitu khawatir.
"Ini bukan pertama kalinya pekerja Midnight Inn terjebak di suatu tempat," kata Mary, memperhatikan keheningannya. "Kali lalu kau pergi menyelamatkan semua orang, dan terjebak dalam jebakan. Meski semuanya beres, tetap berbahaya bagimu. Itu sebabnya aku senang melihat kau belajar dari pengalaman lampau.
"Kali ini semuanya akan beres lagi, dan kau tak perlu melakukan semuanya sendirian juga. Punya sedikit keyakinan pada orang lain. Semesta tidak berputar di sekitarmu, meski sistemmu begitu."
Lex terkekeh.
"Lihat, aku sedikit khawatir pada bayi yang tersesat sendirian. Gugat aja kalau mau," jawab Lex sambil mencoba membela diri.
Ekspresi Mary melunak sedikit.
"Bayi itu punya ward perlindungan lebih banyak dari raja-raja dan penguasa kekaisaran besar. Dia akan baik-baik saja. Realm Mimpi memang berbahaya, tapi bukan hukuman mati. Peluang hal buruk terjadi sebenarnya kecil. Kau akan lihat, semuanya akan baik saat kalian akhirnya sampai ke dia."
Lex mengangguk, dan hanya bisa berharap Mary benar.
"Kirimkan Valkyrie," kata dia, menyerahkan tugas itu ke Mary.
Di tempat lain di dalam Inn, dua belas Valkyrie duduk di dalam ruang Meditasi, dikelilingi ratusan Sumber Energi Inti Surgawi, menyerap energinya dan menggunakannya untuk pulih.
Perlakuan seperti ini memang mewah, dan akan mempercepat proses pemulihan drastis. Sayangnya, jutaan tahun pelapukan tidak bisa dibalik dalam waktu singkat, tidak peduli seberapa drastis atau mewah perawatannya.
Kapanpun ada kerja, mereka pergi melakukannya, tapi setiap momen luang dihabiskan di ruangan ini, memulihkan diri. Lagipula, selain Shireen, yang lain bahkan kehilangan rasa identitas diri. Mereka ingin memulihkannya secepat mungkin.
Tiba-tiba, mereka menerima perintah Mary. Mereka sudah diberitahu tugas selanjutnya sebelumnya, jadi sudah siap.
Dua belas Valkyrie berteleportasi ke Z, mengelilingi ruang terkoyak masif, dan mulai menyalurkan energi Ilahi ke ruang itu, menggunakan kemampuan energi Ilahi menciptakan keajaiban agar robekan itu stabil.
Mereka tidak menggunakan energi Ilahi mereka sendiri yang terbatas, tapi menggunakan energi Ilahi yang diciptakan di dalam Midnight Inn oleh semak-semak Dewa dan pohon-pohon Surgawi. Alasannya ada dua.
Pertama, karena sumber energi Ilahi adalah Midnight Inn dan realm Midnight, akan lebih mudah menggunakannya untuk menghubungkan ruang terkoyak ke realm Midnight. Kedua, ada lebih banyak energi Ilahi yang bisa digunakan cara ini.
Sementara dua belas Valkyrie membantu Z dan yang lain, Zen tidak bisa tidak mengagumi kecerdasan Pengelola Inn. Saat ini mereka semua tahu bahwa potongan ruang terkoyak ini akan disatukan dengan realm Mimpi untuk digunakan sebagai platform menyelamatkan semua tamu dan pekerja lain.
Hampir seolah Pengelola Inn tahu bencana ini akan datang, dan dia sudah menemukan solusinya. Prestasi menakjubkan bukan dia menemukan solusi, atau dia tahu sebelumnya, yang juga mengesankan. Yang mengesankan adalah Pengelola Inn menemukan solusi sementara semua orang lain di semesta masih berjuang menghadapi realm Mimpi.
Perbandingan itulah yang menempatkan segalanya dalam perspektif. Dikatakan perbandingan adalah pencuri kebahagiaan. Meskipun itu benar, niemand hidup sendirian di semesta, jadi agak mustahil untuk tidak membandingkan.
Sementara berita sudah menyebar di kalangan pekerja, tamu tidak tahu, jadi banyak yang hanya menyaksikan segalanya terjadi, tidak tahu untuk apa semua itu.
Lex juga diam menyaksikan sambil mengatur semuanya dengan tenang, menyiapkan penyelamatan.
Beberapa kedai sudah dikirim ke realm Asal, dan Henali membantu mengangkutnya ke tempat-tempat di seluruh realm Asal, menciptakan jaringan strategis Inn yang terhubung satu sama lain dan ke Midnight Inn.
Banyak tamu yang berasal dari realm Asal mulai keluar dari realm Midnight dan kembali ke realm Asal. Meski mereka tidak harus kembali ke planet, atau galaksi asalnya, mereka bisa mulai kembali sendiri.
Tapi kebanyakan tamu menunggu dan menerima tawaran Inn untuk menginap gratis. Masalahnya, kebanyakan tamu tidak punya kekuatan atau cara untuk bepergian melintasi realm Asal ke rumah mereka, jadi mereka hanya bisa menunggu sampai Inn buka lagi, atau sampai Henali menyiapkan cara buat mereka kembali ke lokasi masing-masing. Itu tidak akan terjadi dalam waktu dekat.
Hari demi hari berlalu, dan perlahan tapi pasti, ruang terkoyak mulai stabil. Di saat yang sama, Batalyon Midnight terus membuat kemajuan dengan teknik yang diberikan. Lex tidak mendapat umpan balik negatif dari node karmik yang ditinggalkannya di Liz, jadi dia tidak menghadapi bahaya kritis juga, yang berita terbaik yang bisa diharapkan saat ini. Charles juga terus mengirim potongan informasi yang Lex masukkan ke rencananya.
Akhirnya, sedikit lebih dari satu bulan setelah realm Mimpi muncul, Z berhasil menstabilkan ruang sehingga siap untuk bagian selanjutnya rencana Lex.
Sistem tidak menyelesaikan misi yang diberikan ke Lex. Itu karena masih ada satu langkah lagi.
Z diperbolehkan istirahat untuk memulihkan energinya, karena dia akan terus memainkan peran krusial di langkah selanjutnya. Begitu siap, mereka melanjutkan rencana.
Realm Minor, yang telah dikeroyok dari realm Midnight dan tidak terhubung ke apapun, telah dikompres seminimal mungkin. Di saat yang sama, ratusan pekerja bekerja nonstop menjaga kondisinya. Belum siap berdiri sendiri tanpa bantuan.
Bagian itu akan segera terjadi. Begitu Z kembali, seluruh potongan ruang diangkut ke kedai terbaru yang baru saja dibangun untuk tujuan khusus menampung ruang ini. Bentuknya seperti stadion olahraga raksasa, itulah sebabnya ruang dibawa dari langit terbuka di atas.
Four days. Lex meditated for four continuous days, doing his best to calm his mind. There were still a few issues here and there that required his attention, but since they were not emergencies, he ignored them.
Unfortunately, despite how critical the situation was, there was nothing more important than getting control over his own mental state. Lex could not even imagine the consequences of what would happen if he developed a Heart Demon while he was learning the Masterless technique.
The very fact that it took him four entire days to regain mental clarity and regain control over himself was a testament to just how incredibly stressed he really was. Maybe he had been dealing with his stress and dangerous situations for too long, and this was a sign for him to take things easy for a while. Unfortunately, whether he took things easy or not was not in his control, at least for now.
Personally, Lex had another interpretation for why his mental state became so vulnerable. It was because he was playing too safe, taking too few risks, and taking up everything on his own shoulders. He needed to be much more serious about training his workers to be able to share his burden.
When he ended his meditation, Lex created another Innkeeper projection and looked at Z’s progress. Stabilising space, without anchoring it to something, was not an easy endeavor. It was not connected to the realm boundary of the main Midnight realm, nor did it have the safety and stability of a treasure or piece of equipment.
It needed to exist on its own, be able to support the function of the laws that governed the land, resist instability, avoid collapse, and be able to merge seamlessly with other realms. That wasn’t too much to ask, right?
Actually, it was still achievable, if barely, according to the original plan Lex had created for Z and the others, even if it took a long time. However, after receiving Taro’s Journal, Lex had another idea. Instead of making this piece of space be able to fuse with any realm it was deployed to, he decided to have its stability target the Dream realm specifically.
For this reason, he had altered the plan given to Z, and had passed specific instructions to Charles as well. For whatever reason, Charles was very slow in producing usable viable information about the Dream realm. He had, however, been able to provide a decent amount of information about how to stabilise torn space and temporarily stitching it to a realm.
The purpose of the stitching in the information provided was to, eventually, perfectly fuse the torn space to a realm. Lex, however, did not need to do that.
"Are we ready to implement the next part of the torn space plan?" Lex asked Mary as he too observed the progress.
Mary, who for once appeared in normal, Midnight Inn attire, looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"Is a flame thrower sufficient to light a match? Of course everything will be ready if you throw so much money at it," she said. "I don’t even know why you’re worried about this at all."
Lex looked at her with a faint smile. She knew why he was so worried.
"This isn’t the first time Midnight Inn workers have been trapped somewhere," said Mary, noting his silence. "Last time you went and saved everyone, and fell into a trap. Although everything worked out, it was still quite dangerous for you. That’s why I’m pleased to see that you’ve learned from your previous experiences.
"This time everything will turn out well once again, and you don’t need to do everything on your own either. Have a little faith in everyone else. The universe doesn’t revolve around you, even if your system does."
Lex chuckled.
"Look, I’m a little worried about a baby who got lost on her own. Sue me," said Lex as he tried to defend himself.
Mary’s expression softened just a little.
"That baby has more protection wards on her than actual kings and rulers of massive empires. She’ll be fine. The Dream realm may be dangerous, but it’s not a death sentence. The chances of something going wrong are actually quite few. You’ll see, everything will be fine when you guys finally get to her."
Lex nodded, and could only hope that Mary was right.
"Send the Valkyrie," he said, letting Mary handle the task.
Elsewhere inside the Inn, the twelve Valkyries were sitting inside a single Meditation chamber, surrounded by hundreds of Celestial Core Energy Sources, absorbing their energy and using it to recover.
Such treatment was actually quite luxurious, and would drastically speed up their recovery process. Unfortunately, millions of years of decay could not be reversed in a short period of time, no matter how drastic or luxurious the treatment was.
Whenever they had work, they would go and do it, but they spent every free moment that they had in this chamber, recovering. After all, other than Shireen, the others had even lost their sense of identities. They wanted to recover that as soon as possible.
Suddenly, they received Mary’s orders. They’d already been informed of their next task ahead of time, so they were already ready.
The twelve Valkyries teleported to Z, surrounding the massive torn space, and began to channel Divine energy towards the space, using the ability of Divine energy to create miracles to make the tear stable.
They weren’t using their own, limited Divine energy, but instead were using Divine energy that had been created within the Midnight Inn by the various Deity bushes and Heavenly trees. The reasons were twofold.
First, since the source of the Divine energy was the Midnight Inn and Midnight realm to begin with, it would be easier to use it to connect the torn space to the Midnight Realm. Secondly, there was much more Divine energy for them to use like this.
While the twelve Valkyries worked to help Z and the rest, Zen could not help but admire the Innkeeper’s foresight. By now they all knew that this torn piece of space was going to be used to fuse with the Dream realm to use as a platform to rescue all the other guests and workers.
It was almost as if the Innkeeper knew that this catastrophe was about to strike, and he already found a solution. The remarkable feat wasn’t that he found a solution, or that he knew about it beforehand, which was impressive too. The impressive part was that the Innkeeper found a solution while everyone else in the universe still struggled to deal with the Dream realm.
The comparison was what really put things into perspective. It was said that comparison was the thief of joy. While that may be true, no one lived alone in the universe, so it was also somewhat impossible to not make comparisons.
While the news had already spread amongst workers, the guests didn’t know which is why many of them just watched everything happen, unaware of what it was all for.
Lex, too, watched in silence as he quietly manoeuvred everything in place, preparing for the rescue.
Several taverns had already been sent to the Origin realm, and the Henali were helping to transport them to places across the Origin realm, creating a strategic network of Inns that connected to each other and the Midnight Inn.
Many of the guests who were originally from the Origin realm began to exit the Midnight realm and return to the Origin realm. While they didn’t necessarily return to the planet, or even galaxy that they were from, they could begin to return on their own.
Most guests, however, waited and took up the Inns offer for free accommodation. The problem was that most guests wouldn’t have the power or means to travel across the Origin realm to their homes, so they could only wait till the Inn opened back up, or until the Henali prepared means for them to return to their respective locations. That wouldn’t be happening any time soon, however.
More days passed, and slowly yet steadily, the torn space started to become stable. At the same time, the Midnight Battalion continued to make progress with their techniques given to them. Lex didn’t get any negative feedback from the karmic node he’d left on Liz, so she hadn’t faced any critical danger either, which was the best news he could hope for at the moment. Charles also kept sending back bits of information which Lex kept incorporating into his plan
Finally, a little over one month after the Dream realm had appeared, Z managed to stabilise the space, such that it was ready for the next part of Lex’s plan.
The system didn’t complete the quest it had given Lex. That was because there was still one more step left.
Z was allowed to take a break so that he could recover his energy, for he would continue to play a crucial role in the next step. Once he was ready, they proceeded with the plan.
The Minor realm, which had been ripped out of the Midnight Realm and was not connected to anything, had been compressed down as much as possible. At the same time, hundreds of workers worked around the clock to maintain its state. It was not yet ready to exist on its own without help.
That part would happen soon enough though. Once Z returned, the entire piece of space was transported to the newest tavern that had literally just been built for the express purpose of being able to accommodate this space. It was in the shape of a massive sports stadium, which is why the space was brought in right from the open ceiling at the top.
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